NL East Notes: Bethancourt, Lavarnway, Wright, Mets, Brown

Earlier this morning, MLB.com’s Mark Bowman reported that the Braves would option struggling catcher Christian Bethancourt to Triple-A Gwinnett (Twitter link). While the corresponding move was not reported at the time, Atlanta has since announced that it will select the contract of Ryan Lavarnway to take Bethancourt’s place. Bethancourt, 23, has batted just .208/.231/.297 in 2014 plate appearances this season. While his elite arm behind the plate would be enough to outweigh a reasonable amount of offensive struggles, that batting line translates to the seventh-worst wRC+ in all of baseball among players with 100 PAs. Via David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, president of baseball ops John Hart likened the Bethancourt demotion to the 2014 demotions of Kolten Wong and Mike Moustakas. Each, like Bethancourt, was a former Top 100 prospect that had struggled in the Majors but has taken a step toward stardom since returning to the bigs. The Braves will hope that’s the outcome for Bethancourt, but in the meantime, they’ll hand his role to Lavarnway. The 27-year-old Lavarnway is a former Top 100 prospect himself, but he’s never replicated the promise he showed in a 2013 cup of coffee when he batted .299/.329/.429 in 84 PAs with Boston.

Here’s more from the NL East…

Via the Record’s Matt Ehalt, Mets GM Sandy Alderson said today that a realistic target date for David Wright’s return will be the All-Star break (Twitter link). The Mets captain has missed all but eight games this season, most of which has been due to a recent diagnosis of spinal stenosis. New York has been said to be looking to acquire a versatile bat that can play third base in the short-term and then move elsewhere once Wright is again healthy.

The Mets recently discussed a scenario in which Noah Syndergaard would switch to a relief role in an effort to aid what has been a fragile bullpen, report Mike Puma and Zach Braziller of the New York Post. In that scenario, Steven Matz would have been recalled to take Syndergaard’s spot in the rotation. However, the team has decided against that decision and will remain committed to using Syndergaard as a starter. The story does seem to lend further credence to recent reports that the Mets are itching to get Matz to the Majors. They’ve reportedly discussed Jon Niese and Dillon Gee with other teams, though neither has generated much interest.

While many Phillies fans have given up hope on Domonic Brown, David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News feels the organization is doing the right thing by giving him a perhaps final shot at proving he’s been anything more than he has shown to this point. Brown, 27, has scarcely hit in the Majors, save for a blistering two-month stretch in 2013, but he still has more growth potential than alternative Phillies options such as Jeff Francoeur and Ben Revere. Brown explained to Murphy his offensive struggles in the minors this season — specifically feeling a lack of strength in his legs early on after returning from an Achilles injury. Brown’s production improved as the strength returned, and he’ll now get some opportunities to force his way into the lineup with regularity, manager Ryne Sandberg implied. Still, Brown is out of options after this season, so Murphy rightly points out that this could effectively be Brown’s last legitimate chance in Philadelphia.

I’d really like to get Niese or Gee traded for a bullpen piece or a solid bench guy. That’s what they’ll get for them at the most. So it’ll upgrade the bench/’pen as well as the rotation since they’ll be able to bring up Matz.

Niese isn’t really that bad. He should be able to get you more than a BP piece. Hes had a 3.58 ERA, 102 ERA+ and a 3.77 FIP over the last 4 seasons, not exactly ace numbers, but nothing to balk at.
Something like Niese for Enrique Hernandez and Chris Hatcher could work.

The problem with Niese’ value at the moment is his current production, 4.24 ERA with a 4.36 FIP isn’t exactly the most attractive target. The recent health scare is also going to be troubling. That track record certainly makes him more appealing than Gee, but it still complicates talks to a degree.

By the way everything looks, Niese seems to have very little value. The Mets are looking at every option to get Matz up to the bigs, even thought about moving Syndergaard to the ‘pen. They are badly itching to get Matz up. It just seems like teams just don’t want Niese or Gee.

Daniel Murphy, a versatile bat who can play 3B and costs nothing in prospects, is slated to return this weekend. With Flores hitting and defending commendably at SS and Herrera lighting a fire at 2B, it seems like the only place Murphy even fits.

The issue w. Niese is that he is seen as an injury risk (rotator cuff IIRC). As a Met fan I’ve seen him be the epitome of a back-end starter…#4 on most days, #5 on other days. Originally my preference was to move Gee before Niese, but now I’d prefer they both get traded for a bench player and maybe a BP arm. Shedding the salary is unfortunately the other driving motivator and limiting factor to moving them.

Also, the fact that Sandy Alderson said that Wright could return by the AS break really sickens me because Adam Rubin reported “I’m told there really is no new development that prompted Sandy Alderson to suggest David Wright may be back in a month.” He’s just trying to give the fans false hope. That and try to make it like he doesn’t have to trade for a bat. Then by the time the AS break comes it’ll come out that Wright will have to take more time but it’s too late to make a trade.

I think Bethancourt was demoted more for his defense than his bat. He has a tremendous arm but that is about it as far as his defense goes. He is terrible at framing pitches and seems to lose focus during the game. He has one passed ball after another. Foltynewicz threw a pitch yesterday that was a little high that ended up as a passed ball against Bethancourt. The pitching coach immediately met him at the dugout as soon as the inning ended to see what in the world was going on. Bethancourt’s only shot at an MLB career is to be a defense first catcher. So far he hasn’t show that he can do that.

1. Sandy may be trying to help his options w. other teams. If Wright is slated to come back, then the Mets are in less of a rush to secure a 3B / utility guy. If he isn’t coming back any time soon, the pressure is on the Mets. I’m not saying that is accurate or not, but it’s a consideration.

2. As for Adam Rubin…between him and the GM, I’d probably trust the GM more, though Sandy has been known to float stuff out there as a smokescreen. If Rubin cites his source, then I’d give it much more weight.